COMMENTARIES
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J&K: Concert and Concerns
Shujaat Bukhari · 10 Sep, 2013 · #4112 · Commentary
German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner and his team seems to be at pain to wonder as to why his “dream” event of hosting world known musician Zubin Mehta in the historical Shalimar garden has gone awry. In private conversations S...
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Syria and Chemical Weapons: Iran’s Dilemma
Shresht Jain · 10 Sep, 2013 · #4111 · Commentary
As Hassan Rouhani takes office and comes face to face with Iran’s myriad domestic and foreign challenges, the recent crisis in Syria has put him in a state of quandary. On one hand, hardliners in Iran have openly criticised the US’ d...
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Special Commentary
India, Pakistan and the Paradox of Power: Countering Insurgency Across the LoC
Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar · 09 Sep, 2013 · #4110 · Commentary
The Inadequacy of Proportional Response
The Pakistan army has relentlessly pursued its politico-military-militant strategy of a ‘thousand cuts’ to keep the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on the boil and in consequence erode the ...
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Japan and South Korea: Burying the Past?
Rajaram Panda · 09 Sep, 2013 · #4109 · Commentary
Certain comments made by the United National Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Seoul in the last week of August about the need to have a ‘correct view of the past history’ of Northeast Asia made headlines in Japan and evoked sharp dis...
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China: New Urbanisation Plans
Namrata Hasija · 09 Sep, 2013 · #4108 · Commentary
In March 2011, increasing urbanisation had been noted as part of the Twelfth Five Year Plan by the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee. It is now being reported that the Chinese government has plans to shift 250 million rural resi...
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India and Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP): Challenges and Prospects
Vignesh Ram · 03 Sep, 2013 · #4107 · Commentary
In the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, regional economies devised various mechanisms including the enhancement of mutual cooperation and understanding amongst themselves to avoid any similar problems in the future. In the years ...
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Presidential Elections in Maldives: A Pre-Poll Analysis
N Manoharan · 03 Sep, 2013 · #4106 · Commentary
After much political drama, Maldives will witness second multi-party presidential elections on 7 September 2013. If the first round fails to throw decisive results, the second round has been scheduled on 28 September (21 days stipulated time...
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IPCS Discussion
International Crisis Group (ICG) Report: Iran’s New President and the Nuclear Talks
Pratima Koirala · 03 Sep, 2013 · #4105 · Commentary
Initial Remarks
Prof PR Chari, Visiting Professor, IPCS:
Prof Chari found the ICG Report very well researched and of high quality. At the same time, he also stated that the footnotes were too elaborate and made the reading process difficult.
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Indian Mujahideen: After Yasin Bhatkal's Arrest
N Manoharan · 31 Aug, 2013 · #4104 · Commentary
When Yasin Bhatkal, cofounder of Indian Mujahideen (IM) was arrested on 29 August 2013 at India-Nepal border, there was more of disbelief than relief. The incredulity was because he operated with different aliases – Ahmed Siddibappa, ...
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Sri Lankan Claims to Kachchatheevu: A Rejoinder
V Suryanarayan · 30 Aug, 2013 · #4103 · Commentary
This commentary is in response to an article entitled 'Kachchatheevu: A Matter of Sri Lanka's Sovereignty' (27 August 2013) by C Vivekananthan, published in the Sri Lanka based Daily Mirror. Vivekananthan’s arguments can be summe...
